Thursday, March 3, 2016

Author Showcase: Annie West

Hello,
hello. How is everyone doing today? It's time for another Author
Showcase, one of my favorite posts to write because it allows me to
shine a light on a fabulous author and do a little flag waving,
gesturing and general raving about a wonderful author. Today's lady is
no different. Please give a warm Deanna's World welcome to the lovely
Annie West.

I have a new book out this month (yay!). It’s about a woman who
believes her days are numbered and decides to make the most of the time
left by breaking out of her humdrum world and ticking a few things off
her bucket list, starting with Paris. The last thing she expects is a
fling with a charming, debonair Frenchman, but Thierry is too wonderful
to resist. Complications arise when she discovers she’s pregnant and
Thierry offers marriage, purely for the sake of their child.

I won’t tell you any more about the story, apart from the fact I loved
writing it. I adored Imogen and Thierry plus there was the bonus of the
setting: Paris and then the French countryside. One of the best parts
of writing the book was revisiting my own trips to that part of the
world. No, I didn’t have a romantic fling with a sexy Frenchman (Mr
West would have objected) but I did find places and events that helped
inspire the story (and I’ve shared a few photos on my website).

What was the best part of researching in France? I think sitting
watching the world go by has to be one of them. There’s nothing quite
like a prime position at an outdoor French café or bar to give you a
fascination for the people around you and for the place. And then there
was the food and the wine…ooh, la, la! Such fun!

Do you have a favourite
French meal or wine? Or maybe one you’d love to try?I can’t pin down a
single favourite and I feel I may want to take a little time exploring
the wines in more detail in future travels. But here are a couple of
photos to show some treats I’ve enjoyed on recent trips.

Annie enjoying a lovely
Kir Royale in Paris

Duck with salad, goat’s
cheese and fabulous Salardaise Potatoes from the Perigord Region

Annie is giving away a signed copy of A Vow To Secure His Legacy to one lucky commenter. All you need to do is leave a comment below and tell us what you'd like to do if you got a chance to visit France.

After losing her mother, Imogen Holgate believes she’s living on
borrowed time with the same terminal illness. So the cautious
accountant blows all her savings on a once-in-a-lifetime trip around
the world, where she meets sexy Parisian Thierry Girard. But after two
steamy weeks there are permanent consequences to their temporary affair…

Now with more than herself to think about, Imogen turns to Thierry to
help, but the last thing she expected was for him to imprison her with
a gold ring!

Excerpt

‘It’s kind of you to see me to my room.’
The doors slid open and he ushered her
down the hall to her room, her arm clamped to his side.
Probably afraid you’ll collapse like you
did last night.
‘That’s the second time you’ve accused
me of being kind.’ His voice sounded tight but she didn’t look at him,
delving instead into her purse for her key card.
‘You’ve been wonderful, and I appreciate
it. I-’ She frowned as he took the card and opened the door.
Did he have to be so eager to say
goodnight?
But instead of saying goodbye, Thierry
stepped over the threshold, drawing her in. The door closed behind them
and, stunned, Imogen turned. His tanned features looked chiselled,
uncompromising, and those liquid dark eyes…
‘I’m not good at kind.’ He stroked a
finger down her cheek in a barely-there touch that rocketed to the
centre of her being. ‘In fact, I excel at doing exactly what pleases me
most.’ His head dipped and Imogen’s breath stalled as his breath
caressed her lips. ‘And what pleases me most is to be with you, Imogen.’
Imogen swallowed hard. It was what she
wanted, what she’d steeled herself to ask. Yet part of her, the
cautious, reserved part that had kept her safe for twenty five years,
froze her tongue.
Safe? There was no safe, not any more.
Not when she could count the future in months, not decades.
‘Or am I wrong?’ His hand dropped and
still she felt his touch like a sense memory. ‘Do you not want-?’
‘Yes!’ Her purse tumbled to the floor as
her hand shot out. She clutched his fingers, threading hers through
them. The flash of heat from the contact point was like an electric
charge. ‘I want.’

Check out some of these
titles by Annie too

Other recent books include 2 which have been nominated as finalists for
the 2015 Australian Romance Reader Awards: THE SULTAN’S HAREM BRIDE and
SEDUCING HIS ENEMY’S DAUGHTER. Coming up soon is THE FLAW IN RAFFAELE’S
REVENGE (July 2016).

USA Today Bestselling author Annie West loves
writing passionate, intense love stories. She has devoted her life to
an in depth study of tall, dark, charismatic heroes who cause the best
kind of trouble in the lives of their heroines. Creating heroines who
are a perfect match for those strong, stubborn men is one of her all
time favorite things. As a sideline she's also researched dreamy
locations for romance, from vibrant cities to desert encampments and
fairytale castles. She leaves on the east coast of Australia and her
favourite things are books, good company, good food and travel. She’s
thrilled by the fact that last year she won the Australian Romantic
Book of the Year Award.

47 comments:

Hai Deanna and AnnieIn France there are was a one time, in the Cote d'Azur (Nice, Monte Carlo, Menton). If I had to go there again I'd like to visit the castles of the Loire, Mont Saint Michelle, and of course Paris.

Annie, congrats on the release of A Vow to Secure His Legacy! I have this book in my hot little hands and can't wait to get immersed in it. I spent only four days in Paris a few years ago, but I would so love to return for a boulangerie tour. :)

Hi Vanessa. LOVE the sound of a boulangerie tour. Or a tour of cheese shops! Or of patisseries. Actually, my first act on my first day in Paris, after settling in to our accommodation was to walk around to a gorgeous, ultra chic chocolate shop and ask for two little truffles for me and my son. The others were resting so clearly didn't need them! As my French was almost non existent I felt very daring. But the lady there was lovely and the chocs were out of this world!

Hi Annie! Hi Deanna! Two of my fave people in one spot - that counts as a party. Oh, my goodness, Annie, I loved, loved, loved A Vow to Secure His Legacy. All your books are great but this one hit it out of the ballpark for me. They're such wonderful characters and your heart aches for their dilemma. And there's something about feeling like time is short to really heighten the emotion and the romance. Well done! Whoever wins this is in for a huge treat.

Hi Anna. I'm sure you can imagine how I'm grinning after reading your comment. Yes, there was that sense of urgency in this one because Imogen thought her time was short. I'd loved that intensity in the story, almost as much as I loved Thierry...

Hi Natasha, I've just done a random draw for someone to win a signed copy of 'Imprisoned by a Vow' and you're the winner! Congratulations. If you email me at annie(at)annie-west(dot)com with your postal address, I'll get your prize in the mail.

Annie I so loved this story everything about it is fab the setting Thierry and Imogen I have not visited Paris so I thank you (and all authors) who take me on trips to places I wand to visit from my armchair I would dearly love to go to the top of the Eifel Tower one of my daughters went there on a school excursion when she was 14 :)

Hi Helen. I'm so very happy you enjoyed this book so much. As for armchair travelling, it's one of my favourite things. It was great fun including snippets of places I'd visited in this story. Of course now I want to go back for more.

Michelle, I haven't made it to Normandy but I can recommend the Loire Valley. You'd enjoy it too, Deanna. So lovely and nice wine as well. I used that as a setting for one of my earlier books (Rebel's Bargain).

Hi Annie and Deanna, lovely blog post! That goat's cheese, duck and potato salad looks absolutely delicious! And what a way to relax - sitting in a cafeteria in Paris watching the world go by! I'd rather like to try that myself.

Would have been perfect if I'd passed French in high school - so perhaps it would be fun to take language lessons in France!

I'm late! I totally meant to stop by yesterday. I am totally jealous of Annie (and everyone else) that gets to do all this traveling! I totally want to see Paris, Prague, St. Petersburg, Ireland, Oz and of course my favorite, Scotland!

When you come to Oz, I'll drag you out to some lunches with some lovely Australian authors I know. They are the most awesome people. Just ask Annie. I know she'll tell you she's lovely! I know she is. :-)

Thanks, Deanna, and everyone for the warm welcome here. I love talking books and travel and food. I've just done a random draw for someone to receive a signed copy of 'A Vow to Secure His Legacy' and the winner is NATASHA PERSAUD. Congratulations, Natasha! If you send me your postal address via my website or at annie(at)annie-west(dot)com I'll send your prize.

Find me around social media

Subscribe Via Email

Search This Blog

Google+

About Me

I love all things beauty and makeup, reading and books, and also have a keen interest in cooking and food. Combined with a husband who loves wine, we write a number of blogs that align with our interests. I have two blogs: Deanna's World which focuses on all things books and beauty, and Daz In The Kitchen which is my cooking and food blog. I hope you visit and stay around.

I loved Skye Warren's Beauty series and His For Christmas and her writing is excellent but this just is too dark for me. I know it is branded as dark erotica and I thought that I would take a chance on the novella / prequel to the series...

Even though the world this book is based in consists of elves and are one of my favorite character races to read about (which was why I got excited and picked up this prequel) reading this did not make me want to run out and grab the fir...